Executive Decision
by Kitt Chaos
Summary: Kaiba and Yugi form Dual Designs Inc. a partnership company, to launch Yugi's Duel Monsters game. Their challenge now is to work together effectively without driving each other crazy. Postscript story for 'Ties of Friendship'. AU. Genfic.
1. Chapter 1

Summary – Kaiba and Yugi form Dual Designs Inc. a partnership company, to launch Yugi's Duel Monsters game. Their challenge now is to work together effectively without driving each other crazy. Postscript story for SotN:Ties of Friendship. AU. Genfic. Seto Kaiba and Yugi Mutou.

This is a follow-up story to my 'Ties of Friendship' which is a prequel story to Lucidscreamer's awesome 'Shadows on the Nile'. SotN is an excellent Yu-Gi-Oh! and Harlequin Intrigue fusion-fic. You don't have to read my prequel story to follow what's going on here, even though this is, as both 'Shadows on the Nile' and 'Ties of Friendship' are, an alternate universe story.

Disclaimers – Yu-Gi-Oh and all its characters are the property of Kazuki Takahashi. All I claim with my story is a deep appreciation for his imagination and characters. The situation, plot, and action in 'Shadows on the Nile' are Lucidscreamer's. She has graciously granted me permission to write prequel stories in her universe.

In this universe, an artistic Yugi created the game Duel Monsters. He has a sporadic psychic gift which at one point showed him the grave danger a kidnapped Mokuba was in. He badgered Seto enough to at least check it out, got hurt saving Mokuba, and convalesced in the Kaiba household. In gratitude, and in the beginnings of friendship, Seto decided to help Yugi make his dream of creating the Duel Monsters card game a reality. This story takes a look at the first few rocky weeks of their new partnership in the year or so before the events that take place in Lucidscreamer's 'Shadows on the Nile'.

**Executive Decision**

**Chapter One**

_Oh, this is just dandy_, Yugi thought as he stared down at his desk. He'd left his work spread out across it in a very specific way the night before, so he could charge right in and follow up on the brainstorm he had last night just before leaving work. His cards, concept designs, sticky notes, and files weren't missing – but they were uselessly gathered into a single pile on the desk in front of his chair.

He took a deep breath. He counted to ten. He considered all that had happened in the past whirlwind couple of weeks...

He had completed his notice at Cynucron Power so he could leave the job with a clean slate and a clear conscience. It's not as if he would ever need a reference from the company, given the recent and dramatic changes in his life, but he still had to be able to sleep at night and face himself in the mirror each day. Giving notice and completing his projects before leaving the company had been the right thing to do.

Then, there had been the task of finding and hiring someone to help him manage the wealth he suddenly found himself saddled with. A slightly bitter smile touched his lips as he recalled how Kaiba had more or less coerced him into accepting the reward for finding Mokuba. Five million dollars. Almost a pittance to someone like Kaiba – a nearly incomprehensible treasure to Yugi. It had taken him a couple of interviews – this time with him as the interviewer – to find an investment manager he trusted. He wasn't interested in aggressively growing even more wealth from his windfall. He just wanted to use it wisely to take care of himself and Grandpa while he gave _Duel Monsters_ his full attention and best effort.

True to his word, Kaiba had allocated funds from Kaiba Corporation to incorporate Dual Designs as an equal partnership venture between himself and Yugi. With those funds, he'd purchased a small office building apart from Kaiba Corporation, hired a staff, and otherwise made every resource he thought Yugi needed available – half the time before Yugi even realized he needed it.

Symbolically, Kaiba designed the office – their office – around a giant partnership desk – which they shared fifty-fifty. Kaiba's side had a state of the art computer, Yugi's side had its twin. A daunting business phone on Yugi's side was balanced by the same phone on Kaiba's side. Neither side had an advantage over the other.

It was driving Yugi quite mad.

First, Kaiba wasn't in the office as much as he was. Yugi completely understood that, as Kaiba still had his own company to run. It was logical that Kaiba's attention was mainly focused on Kaiba Corporation, the juggernaut company that created wealth for him in the first place. Dual Designs, Inc. was going to be a financial drain the first few years anyway – assuming it succeeded. Yugi squashed that thought. _No, _until_ it succeeds._

Still, during those fifteen to twenty hours a week Kaiba was actually in the office, Yugi wanted to bellow. Kaiba handled the business negotiations and spent a lot of time on the phone. He never raised his voice, but the acid contempt that was only one tool in his verbal arsenal routinely made Yugi want to strangle him, even though he wasn't the focus of it. Then, there was Kaiba's faintly condescending attitude toward _him_.

In all fairness Yugi did believe that Kaiba was unaware of it. He was certain Kaiba really did try to be supportive, and Yugi forgave him for being a jerk, but...

Yugi knew the business world, office politics, effective communication in the workplace, but, his knowledge was for the _other_ side of the boardroom, the grunts that actually did the work. So, he'd gotten a few books about corporations, negotiations, and business law with the idea of getting himself up to speed, at least somewhat, with these strange, new aspects of business before having to deal with other company executives face-to-face.

Kaiba had shot him down in his typically condescending way. "That's what I'm here for, Mutou. Read all you want, you'll never be my equal when it comes to negotiations. Leave that end of the business to me. You deal with your part."

Yugi drew the design for the brutal Judge Man that day.

For this... Yugi's attention returned to his ruthlessly neatened desk and wondered if he could reconstruct the pattern he'd had his work spread out in before. This sticky note was here, next to this series of cards, and that...

Yugi reached to place a folder down and realized he was about to put it on top of some data disks on Kaiba's side of the desk.

_Oh, I bet I was encroaching on his side before,_ Yugi realized. Well, that put a different spin on things. Kaiba wasn't trying to sabotage him, he was simply reclaiming his part of the desk. Since he wasn't in the office all the time, Yugi had gotten in the habit of using more than his share of the flat surface when he needed it. He decided to have a conversation with his business partner about –things – the next time Kaiba was in the office.

– – – – –

"How are we dividing the labor between us, Kaiba?" Yugi asked.

"What do you mean?"

"You're in the office about twenty hours a week," Yugi began.

"And you think I'm not pulling my fair share? Have you forgotten that all of this is funded by Kaiba Corporation?" Kaiba raised an incredulous eyebrow at him as his voice dropped into an icy tone.

"No! I haven't forgotten," Yugi exclaimed. "That's not where I was going with this, at all!" Kaiba just waited. "Look, you're right. You're paying for everything, _and _you come in here and deal with impossible people on the phone, _and _Dual Designs, Inc. isn't producing anything to show for it yet, _and_ I'm not – I'm not..." Yugi couldn't hold Kaiba's neutral, blue-eyed stare and his gaze dropped to the thick book of contract law it would take him weeks to read, much less comprehend. "I'm not suited for it, I guess. I can't do it. What you do, that is."

"Yugi."

Yugi looked up, stunned. Kaiba almost never used his first name.

"I can't draw. I can grasp your game, and," Kaiba nearly quirked a smile at him. "I'm sure I can be an excellent duelist if, no, _when_ I put my mind to it; but... _Duel Monsters_ – creating the game – is all you. You shouldn't concern yourself with dealing with tedious contract minutiae and the nimrods of other companies. That is the area I excel in. _You_ design the game – _I_ design how we present it to the world. That's how we divide the labor between us."

Yugi blinked at him. Wow. Talk about completely misreading someone. Kaiba _liked _snarking at people on the phone. The boardroom meetings full of pitfalls that alternately bored and scared Yugi were part of a game Kaiba_ liked _to play. Dealing with day-to-day business tedium was a challenge Kaiba _enjoyed_. "Well, if you're gonna put it _that _way..."

Kaiba glared at him. "Get back to work, Mutou. What the hell are we paying you for?"

"Uhm...?"

"Of course you draw a salary, idiot. I do, too. We don't expect anyone to work for nothing, why should we?" Kaiba growled at him. "I've got a conference call to make and you... You've got to make Judge Man look more menacing. Add some fangs, or tusks, or something. What is with you and such wholesome-looking monsters?"

Kaiba's grousing faded as he walked down the hall toward the state-of-the-art holo-conference suite. Yugi smiled and dumped the book about contract law he didn't want to read anyway into the trashcan with a satisfying and solid thump. Strolling back to his desk he toggled on the sound system, mashing the button that played his current favorite CD. Reclaiming his chair, he reached for his favorite sketching pencil, mindless of the fact he sent the rest of the pencils rolling away. Fangs? Naw. His Vampire Lord was going to have fangs. Tusks, though – that had possibilities.

_"...I drew fame and fortune on a tarot card..."_ sang the more-than-pleasant voice from the speakers. Yugi had to laugh at how oddly apt that line was when applied to his situation – before he bent over his sketchbook to add tusks to the daunting Judge Man.

– – – – –

Author's note: The song Yugi is listening to at the end of the chapter is by Eric Stuart, the voice actor for Seto Kaiba (there's a link to his music website in my profile). It's called 'Bad Luck' and it can be found on his 'In The County Of Kings' CD.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

Seeing that the office was empty, even though the overhead light was still on, he rolled his shoulders and indulged in a single long, expansive, cat-like stretch. All too often important conference calls became endurance matches. He'd won the one today, but it had taken a toll on his reserves, and, the time – now that he'd taken a moment to note it. No wonder Mutou wasn't here. Undoubtedly he'd gone home for the day.

Seto admitted to himself that Yugi kept surprising him. Even though he had to know he was completely temperamentally _not _suited for the boardroom jousting Seto excelled in, Yugi thought to try. Seto acknowledged ruefully that Yugi's dedication to making _Duel Monsters_ a reality was an even match for his own.

For Seto, it was not only that the potential for _Duel Monsters' _success excited his business sense; and not only the astonishing display of understanding when Yugi designed the more than apt Blue-Eyes White Dragon card for him, but also...

_But, also – nothing. _Seto thought_. For what Yugi did for me – forcing me to – to accept his help in finding Mokuba, actually finding Mokuba, and then, saving him when I wasn't able to... Giving him my best skills to make his dream come true is the least I can do..._

Seto barked out a single, short, slightly self-mocking laugh. _I keep finding more 'least I can do' situations when it comes to Mutou..._

A blinking red light on his phone attracted his notice. He keyed the proper code to retrieve the voice messages.

"Big brother, I know how important it is to you that the _Duel Monsters_ release succeeds and puts Dual Designs, Inc. on the map, but you don't have to make it all happen in the first month!" Mokuba's voice chided. Seto smiled, but admitted his brother was right. He _was _pushing himself too hard. "I'm sure you have dozens more things that will 'just take a minute' to wrap up before you come home, but, they can all wait until the next time you go to DDI. You need to take care of yourself, too, Seto!" The tone of Mokuba's voice changed – softened. "Uhm, I don't want to come across as bossy, but, don't you think it would be a good idea to get some rest? I know you don't want me to wait up, and I won't, but I haven't seen you for more than a few minutes before school for a couple of days now, and – I miss you, big brother. Come home soon. Bye!"

Seto looked at the deceptively small pile of data disks he'd left on the desk before taking his conference call. Yes, each one had a task that would only take a few minutes of time to do, and his inclination was to work on all of them, but, Mokuba was right. It would take him more than an hour to chew through the work represented by the data disks. He stifled a growl of irritation at the four graphite artist's pencils that had wandered across the DMZ of the partnership desk and encroached onto his territory. Why could Mutou _never_ keep his stuff on his side of the desk?! Didn't he realize how precious Seto's time was? Each minute he spent reclaiming and straightening his desk was a minute he wasn't working for the benefit of Dual Designs, Inc. He only had a few hours a week to devote to it as it was. He picked up the pencils and spent a long moment damping down his impulse to break them in half before returning them to Mutou's side of the desk.

Seto forced himself to take a few deep breaths. Yes, he was tired. Normally he'd just let minor irritations roll right off of him instead of letting himself get worked up over them. It's not like Mutou even knew it was so irritating for Seto to not have a clear desk – but Yugi would learn, Seto was sure – he just hoped it was before he snapped, and yelled at him, or something... He placed the pencils down with exaggerated care –unbroken – then returned to his side.

Sighing he toggled the play switch again to see if the other message was something he had to attend to right away, or if he could indulge, follow his brother's well-considered advice, and call it a day.

"Sir, Roland here. I know that standard protocol is to wait for you to call for the car, but I've taken the liberty of giving the chauffeur the night off." Seto slumped. That meant it would take at least half-an-hour waiting for a suitable driver to bring the car to him, then another half-hour to get home. He'd miss seeing Mokuba. He didn't want to admit it, but it tore at his heart that his brother missed him enough to have left that message. "I've brought the car to the DDI offices myself. Whenever you are ready, sir, I will bring the car around and pick you up."

Without a single conflicting thought, Seto hit the button on his cell phone that paged his aide, picked up the things he always carried with him – cell phone, laptop, and his deck of _Duel Monsters_ cards, and looked around the office to make certain he had everything before leaving. It was then that he spied it.

Propped up against the computer screen on his side of the desk, there was a sketch. Not just any sketch, Seto noted as he picked it up. Judge Man glared at him in full, vibrant color. Wicked tusks jutted from the monster's lower jaw, the hair that had been unremarkable before now resembled a wild mane, and hatred gleamed in the duel monster's eyes. He was always amazed at how fast Yugi could produce a finished drawing once he hammered out the details of the appearance of a monster in his mind. Seto glanced at the corner and noticed Mutou had already cataloged Judge Man as an official monster for the game. He placed the sketch squarely on Mutou's side of the desk, in front of the chair, before turning his back on his waiting data disks, and decisively snapping off the light as he left the office for the day.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

"Huh." Prompted by a familiar tingle, Yugi had spent the morning playing with his computer, skimming over the massive amount of internal information about Dual Designs, Inc. available to him at his very desk. He wasn't certain what had triggered his psychic hunch, but as he poked about trying to satiate it, he was impressed with how well the company he shared with Kaiba had been organized. He and Kaiba had fifty-eight employees – with two of them being Seto Kaiba and Yugi Motou themselves. Aside from the art department which was responsible for any final clean up work on Yugi's designs to make them camera-ready for the cards; typefaces and graphics for boxes, sleeves, advertisements; point-of-purchase art and the like, there was a small legal department securing patents for aspects of the game play and copyrights for the art. There were people gathered into various other supportive departments, like personnel. And, it was poking about in the information readily available in this department that Yugi discovered an interesting fact – one that quieted his psychic tingle once he realized what he was looking at.

Kaiba had been completely accurate when he said that both he and Yugi drew salaries, just like any other employee of the company. These were matching, modest salaries, not designed to drain the financial resources of the new company, but still, competitive wages for the work each of them was doing. It took a moment for Yugi to realize what Kaiba had done with his own salary.

"Why that sneaky..." Yugi leaned back in his chair in admiration. _It's a good thing Kaiba's not in the office right now, or I'd..._

Yugi looked at the screen's display of information again, shaking his head in wonder. Kaiba really did want this company and his game to succeed. The man had put his money where his mouth was, so to speak, as his salary was designed to automatically return to the company as something of a continuing 'seed investment'. Yugi knew they'd established the company as an exact fifty-fifty ownership split between them. There were no shares for Kaiba to be buying to try to gain more control of the company than Yugi. There was nothing for Kaiba to gain by returning his salary to DDI – except Yugi's understanding and admiration. Since Yugi had to dig about for this information, prompted by his psychic gift, it's not something Kaiba had ever expected him to discover.

_He'd probably get all weird and try to Mokuba Dodge me if I mentioned it,_ Yugi thought. _But, it is cool that he believes in _us_ enough to have done this. I know he doesn't need the money, what with Kaiba Corporation and all, but still..._

Rationalizing that he didn't need the money either, with the investing he'd done with the five million Kaiba had rewarded him, and his own savings from his prior job, Yugi quickly set his own salary to do what Kaiba's was doing – return to the company as a bulwark against future growth. Satisfied with his decision, Yugi opened his game file to work on refining how the traps in his game functioned.

Momentarily stuck with how to balance one particularly powerful trap with the rest of the game, Yugi turned away from his computer. He reached out for a fresh sheet of paper and his favorite art pencil. He wasn't really paying any attention to the random lines he drew across the paper. His mind was occupied with trying to figure out one Seto Kaiba, his business partner.

Yugi admitted the man was always honest – for a certain value of honesty. Kaiba never lied to anyone – except himself. It was strange how Kaiba would say one thing, seemingly do the opposite, and yet not have lied. The Mokuba Dodge was the foremost example of this. It was a way for Kaiba to express his feelings and concerns, without lying, because Mokuba _would_ feel the same way Kaiba claimed. Yugi had learned to take Kaiba's Mokuba Dodges in stride, realizing it was important for Kaiba to express his feelings, but equally important they be veiled. Kaiba was a surprisingly sensitive person under all his pretense of being a jerk. _Well, no,_ Yugi admitted to himself, _Kaiba _is _still a jerk, but there's something worthwhile under it all._

Yugi looked down and realized that while he was musing about his partner, he'd managed to doodle a rather intricate maze.

"Huh." Yugi picked up the sketch and chewed on the end of his pencil while he regarded it with a critical eye. _Too bad I can't call it 'Mokuba Dodge', but I'm sure Kaiba would get way too weird about it if I did. _

Still pondering, he put the sketch down and reached for a different pencil. While he continued to refine the sketch, Yugi kept turning over ways for the maze to work as a trap in his game. But, he already had a labyrinth trap card that he liked and didn't want to get rid of it in favor of this one.

Yugi turned over the genesis of this image in his mind. He'd been musing about understanding Seto Kaiba, a futile mental exercise to be sure. Kaiba never did do what Yugi expected him to. Draw a salary, then give it back to the company that gave it in the first place. Yugi's pencil lightly traced the first bend in his maze's wall. Actually care about people, but be completely unable to admit it, except by cloaking it in a deeper concern for his brother's wishes. That was represented by the dead end in the maze Yugi'd drawn toward the 'back' of the dimensional image. He really wanted to make this a card in the game, but even though the image was worthy, he couldn't come up with a function for the labyrinth trap, or walls of maze... A bizarre image of a card with a corn-inspired motif wandered across his mind.

What could this card do? It was just a maze to trap enemies, but... Yugi grinned. Just as Kaiba never did what was expected, this card shouldn't either. It would make sense for it to be a trap card, therefore it couldn't be a trap card. A spell card? It would be a weak one, and Yugi didn't want this card to be weak. A monster card? What could a wall do, except fall on someone as an attack? Wait, it didn't _have_ to attack. Maybe a defensive monster card...

He'd never seen anything quite as defensive as Kaiba's way of dealing with expressing his emotions when they might inconveniently reveal something about himself he didn't want to admit. It occurred to Yugi that the 'Mokuba Dodge' was purely a defensive maneuver on Kaiba's part. In fact, Yugi didn't think there was any way Kaiba could ever use that odd quirk of his to attack anyone, since it would automatically mean that Mokuba wanted something bad to happen to someone. No attack value for this monster appealed to him. Yugi scribbled a zero for the monster's attack and considered what defensive value he should give it. After a moment of thought, he had it. Three thousand, just like the Blue-Eyes attack value. _Kaiba might not ever realize this card is based on him, just like the Blue-Eyes, but the hint is there. _ Yugi grinned wickedly.

So, a purely defensive monster with no attack and an ultimate defense. Labyrinth Wall. _These walls form a labyrinth with no exits for enemies._

Just as he finished adding the code that would indicate this was a card to be officially added to the game, Kaiba himself strode into the office, and placed his laptop down on the desk. Or, tried to. The computer immediately began to roll, as Yugi's pencils, again, had rolled over to Kaiba's side of the desk. Glaring at him, Kaiba sighed, lifted his laptop again, scooped up the offending pencils, and thrust them at Yugi.

"Why must you always use my side of the desk?" Kaiba growled.

"Good day to you, too, Kaiba," Yugi countered, accepting his pencils.

Kaiba grunted, opened his now-stable laptop and called up a report just as the phone on his side of the desk chimed.

"Yes?" A pause. "Motou's mess slowed me down. Give me a moment, then send the call through."

By the end of the day, Yugi considered adding thorns to his Labyrinth Wall, Kaiba had been just that prickly. When he realized the 'thorns' he was imagining were more like giant pikes whose lethal metal tips met in the middle, just like something out of an action movie, he decided not to change anything, just yet. Still, Kaiba had been impossible all day long. Yugi had knots of tension between his shoulder blades that didn't ease until he'd gotten home and pounded them with very hot water in his shower. He mused about how his really good day at work had turned to dust once Kaiba got there with his mega-grumbly attitude.

_If things don't change, there's no way this company can succeed. _The unwelcome thought saddened Yugi more than he expected.

– – – – –

It was strange, Yugi realized, that he felt nervous about seeing Kaiba at Kaiba Corporation. Duel Designs, Inc. was an office, and a business, too, but... Yugi's job was to draw and create the game. Because of that it hardly felt like a business to him. Kaiba Corp., on the other hand, was serious. Yugi knew that in the bowels of the mighty company somewhere there was someone who did as he did – leaned back in a chair and used his creativity and his mind to come up with a new concept that would ultimately enrich a game. Of course, that creative person in Kaiba Corporation worked on holograms, or microchips, or something else technical and far more serious than a mere game. But, the aspects of Kaiba Corp. that Yugi always saw were the executives in custom-tailored suits who were concerned with legal concerns, patents, multimillion dollar investments – oh, and said company's CEO. Kaiba was never 'fluffy' at the best of times, about the only time he ever unbent enough to appear to even know what the word 'fun' even meant was – was around his little brother. Whenever Kaiba was ensconced in his corporation he was a horse of a different color. Yugi thought he would rather face a dragon curled up on a vast pile of treasure than to meet with CEO Seto Kaiba, at Kaiba Corporation, again.

There was no helping it. Evidently some important papers required both his and Kaiba's signatures, and Kaiba's very full appointment book meant he wouldn't be coming to Dual Designs, Inc. soon enough before the papers had to be filed. Really, it wasn't a bother for Yugi to meet at Kaiba Corp. It was just not the most comfortable place for him. He might be an executive himself, now, but he didn't feel any different. He still felt very much out of his element whenever he had to make an appearance in the corporate world – and Kaiba Corporation most definitely was part of that unsettling world.

Yugi sighed while he waited in the reception office just outside of Kaiba's office. He refrained from swinging his feet in boredom, instead indulgently cursing his 'short' genes that made it so his feet didn't comfortably reach the floor in a standard sized chair. It might only be Kaiba's executive secretary, but Yugi didn't want to appear like a fidgety child before the man.

Slightly bored, he looked around. It really was fascinating how the computer monitor at the man's desk was fully virtual, a hologram emitted by the desk, containing no real substance in and of itself. A thought nudged at Yugi's mind, an important one, but before he could draw it out and examine it, the phone at the man's desk chimed. It was a signal, for the man rose from his desk and crossed to the door leading to Kaiba's office.

"Mr. Kaiba will see you, now."

Yugi slid off the chair, pulled the hem of his jacket to straighten it, and entered the room. As he walked across the room to Kaiba's desk, he was struck once again at how neat – ruthlessly neat – Kaiba's office was. Well, that was the nice way to put it. To Yugi's way of looking at things, it was sterile. Yugi knew that Kaiba did a ton of work, and yet there was no sign of it, no papers, no computer media, no product prototypes cluttering the office – anywhere. Yugi suppressed a shiver at how alien such a barren workspace was to him.

In his mind's eye he visited his workspace. _His_ desk had the fully articulated model of the human form that he used as a reference for proportions. That he would sometimes fold silly paper hats to put on the head of the model was just for amusement, and to unblock his creativity. There were many grades of artist's pencils, his art pens and dipping ink well, several different types of erasers for the different weights and types of paper he used – and an abacus. That had been the weird graduation gift from his grandpa when he'd completed his course of study as an accountant. Yugi wasn't working as an accountant anymore, but he still liked having the abacus nearby so he could play with the beads when he was worrying at a problem. It had been his lucky talisman at his last job. Perhaps that luck would wear off on DDI, too. Kaiba had given him an odd look when he placed the abacus on his side of the desk that first week they were setting up, but he hadn't said anything.

Today, Kaiba was in his full, intimidating 'business man/CEO' mode. His manner indicated that he just needed Yugi to read and sign the documents in his presence (while he did the same) so they could be filed with the appropriate authorities, and get on with his day. Kaiba's demeanor suggested very strongly that he didn't have any time for idle chit-chat.

While he was reading through the papers, with the calm Mr. Cumberson at hand to explain anything made too obscure by the legalese, Yugi overheard the reason for Kaiba's behavior. He was getting ready to travel to America and submit Kaiba Corporation's services in a bidding war for a substantial contract with a prestigious company. Yugi shuddered as that was the end of the business he had no aptitude or tolerance for. Despite his abrupt manner with Yugi, Kaiba seemed to face the prospect of pitting Kaiba Corporation against other companies for this contract with a sort of thinly veiled glee.

"So, when are you leaving?" Yugi asked casually as he placed the papers he'd just finished signing on the desk for Kaiba's signature.

Kaiba gathered the papers before they rested on the fine wood surface for even a full minute, signed them himself as he'd already read and understood them, and handed them to Mr. Cumberson. "Leaving? Oh, for America. In two weeks. I'll be putting in extra hours at DDI this week and next so that the trip doesn't impact our company too much."

Yugi grinned. Kaiba hardly had to explain his actions to him, but it did make it seem as if they really were partners when he did. So did Kaiba's reference to 'our company'. "See you tomorrow, then?" Yugi thought to take his leave and let Kaiba get on with his Kaiba Corporation work.

"No, I'm needed here all day tomorrow. Wednesday. Eight o'clock, sharp." Kaiba suddenly met his eyes and gave Yugi his full and undivided attention. "Thank you. For coming down here to sign those papers. Mr. Cumberson informed me that they need to be filed today, and there was no way I could come down to the DDI offices."

Yugi smiled, again. "No problem. See you later!" Yugi waved as he crossed the room and let himself out.

Mulling over his trip to Kaiba Corporation on the way back to the Dual Designs, Incorporated office, Yugi was struck by a thought. Kaiba, even though he was mega-busy, maybe because he was mega-busy now that Yugi thought about it, seemed – content in his office at Kaiba Corporation. More content than Yugi had ever seen him at DDI. Some of that might be that Kaiba Corp. was an established company, but, Yugi suspected the reason might be even more simple than that. So simple, in fact, that he almost missed it.

He decided to try an experiment. Starting Wednesday, for the rest of the week since Kaiba would be there each day, Yugi made every effort to be scrupulous about keeping the top of the partnership desk clear – even though it made him edgy. He kept the topmost, right-hand drawer on his side slightly open so he could drop his hand in it and touch the now-hidden abacus beads for comfort whenever the starkness of the work surface got to be too much for him. When he was actively working, he made certain to never let any of his work wander over to Kaiba's side of the desk. Once he'd finished with his art supplies, he reminded himself to place them back in the drawer. Yes, even his articulated model. Kaiba's mood improved. By Friday his partner had begun to radiate some of that contented energy Yugi had noted in Kaiba's office at Kaiba Corporation.

Telling himself it is for a good cause, Yugi deliberately left a messy, half-completed sketch, a handful of pencils, and his kneaded eraser scattered on Kaiba's side of the desk the day before Kaiba was to leave on his trip. As he now expected, Kaiba was curt, on edge, and unhappy that entire day. Kaiba refrained from saying anything openly to Yugi about it, but Yugi had caught his partner eyeing him as if Kaiba _wanted_ to say something. Each time, Kaiba stopped himself, thinned his lips in a disapproving line, and turned away. It was a great relief to both of them to realize that Kaiba would leave for his trip the next day.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

After the limousine had picked him up from the airport, Seto admitted to himself that his trip to America had been a success beyond even his wildest dreams. He'd impressed the head of the American company whose contract he was trying to land for Kaiba Corporation. As was the case with such things, it had been a combination of presenting not only the proposal his company had prepared, but himself, as well. Seto was gratified that the blend of arrogance and charisma that he knew he possessed and carefully balanced against each other in his personality had hit the proper note overseas. Nothing had been set in stone just yet, but he knew Kaiba Corporation was the front-runner for landing the new contract.

He was also guardedly excited by the results of a rather impulsive action he'd also taken while on his business trip. He hadn't planned for it, but a collusion of events had made it possible for him to make a primary introduction of DDI's _Duel Monsters _game to an American company. Releasing _Duel Monsters_ simultaneously in two markets, and in two languages would be a monumental task, but one he was certain DDI was capable of performing.

Since the interest from the American company had been enthusiastic, but guarded, Seto wasn't sure if he would share this new with Mutou – yet. He wasn't willing to disappoint or discourage his partner if nothing came of it. Besides, releasing _Duel Monsters_ just in Japan at first, and then waiting for the American companies to come to them would be a valid plan of action, too. He mulled both avenues of development over in his mind while watching the patterns of light from the streetlights play on the hood of the limo. It was late, and Mokuba was waiting up for him, but...

Faced with the prospect of too much to do, since the tentative DDI contact had been unplanned, Seto leaned forward and tapped on the window separating his compartment with that of the limousine driver. The window lowered and Seto asked the man to drive to the DDI office, first. It was more important for Seto to focus his attention tomorrow on capitalizing on his trip and landing the contract for Kaiba Corporation, but he didn't want to lose sight of the progress he'd made for Duel Designs, Inc. either. Leaving his notes at the office so he could focus on them properly later in the week made the most sense to him. As the darkened DDI building came into sight, Seto suppressed a sigh. He didn't have the same sense of fierce pride beholding the building that he did whenever Kaiba Corporation's tower came into view. That was odd, really, since he had much more control over that building and how the company it represented came to be than he did with Kaiba Corporation.

He realized he was particular. He liked things his own way, and he had the money to have things done as he wanted. Very, very rarely did he have to bend for anyone – and usually that person was Mokuba. It made him uncomfortable to go to work at DDI, in that shared office, but Mutou was his partner – not an employee – and Seto couldn't just order his partner to behave a certain way with his own company – in his own office. Seto didn't like to have to – being forced to – accommodate, but...

His reflective thoughts ground to a halt when the elevator doors to their office opened. The entire floor where their massive partnership office was had been redesigned. A new hallway beckoned. Intrigued, Seto walked through the nighttime-lit hall and realized it served as the separation and connection between two large offices. A tasteful, but unmistakable sign on one office read 'Yugi Mutou' and the other 'Seto Kaiba'.

He reached around the doorway into the office that had his name. Sure enough, at the natural height for his hand, he found a light switch. The switch for Yugi's office was on the same side of the door in his office, but lower. Seto smiled at that, and wondered if the way the office had been before had inconvenienced Yugi overmuch because of the radical differences in their heights.

Now that each office was lit, Seto examined them closely. Sure enough they faithfully mirrored each other – each contained large desks, instead of the massive partnership desk that had dominated their shared office before, comfy chairs, computer terminals, and office phones. One door in each room led to a more that serviceable private bathroom. Subtle differences were in place, too. The large table in Yugi's office had a very high quality, full spectrum light on a swing arm clipped to it, and it also held art supplies and art in various stages of completion. In contrast, the table in his office was clear. A door in Seto's office led directly to the conference room, now. Each room had large double doors that when left open would permit a clear and direct sight line from desk to desk, but when closed would offer full privacy.

It was... It was... perfect. _It was the way it should have been designed in the first place_, Seto realized. There was no need – there had never been a need for them to share an office, much less a desk. He wasn't the 'partnership desk' sort of person – and he guessed Yugi discovered he wasn't either. He realized something more. Yugi was asserting some of his authority to act, in the best interests of their company, without checking with Seto first. As Seto had made an 'executive decision' of his own – pitching _Duel Monsters_ to a company without clearing it with Yugi first, he wasn't about to stand on ceremony. In fact...

It was something of a relief to know that Yugi would make those sorts of decisions, too. He knew, no matter what, for saving Mokuba...no, dammit, because Yugi was – well, _Yugi_ – he had Mutou's back. It was a far more considerable relief than he wanted to admit to realize Yugi had his back, too. By redesigning their partnership office into two separate offices, Yugi showed that he wanted to make this work, and he wanted both of them to be comfortable and content. Well, that's what Seto wanted, too. He nodded. This would make all the difference in the world. This would make it all work.

That was when Seto spied one of the other subtle differences between their offices. Over the double doorway to the office that bore his name there was a sign. _Here there be dragons_ the bold script stated. He couldn't help but smile. Yeah, Mutou had his number. Seto acknowledged that for some reason, that didn't bother him as much as he thought it should. He looked at the sign again.

"Rawr!"


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

Yugi worried and tried not to fret when Kaiba arrived at work. He wondered what his partner thought of the radical changes he'd made to the office, redesigning the entire floor and splitting their office into two, but Kaiba didn't say a word. He just entered his office as if it was what he'd always done, sat down, and went right to work. After a solid twenty minutes of hearing nothing but his partner's rapid keystrokes, Yugi thought he would burst from impatience. Dammit! He wanted to know what Kaiba thought about the offices! He'd been on pins and needles since making the decision to change them – without conferring with Kaiba about it. Kaiba's silence on the matter was driving Yugi a bit nuts. _Well, I've already pushed things this far_, Yugi thought. _It might be pushing my luck, but..._ Yugi dithered for a moment more, weighing his decision one last time. This was either going to make it all work, or set a completely new strain in place between the partners. Squaring his shoulders, he decided to take the bull by the horns – no, beard the dragon in his den. Or, at least gain his attention with a well-thrown Koosh ball.

– – – – –

Seto didn't actually jump when the object landed with a squishy splat in the middle of his paper work, but his heart gave an emphatic thump to let him know it startled him. _It's a – ball, of some kind_, he realized, even though it looked like a bunch of multicolored rubber bands tied together. His surreptitious glance revealed that it was a toy designed to be this way and not some haphazard construct of a bored office-mate. He spared his partner an impatient glare without slowing at all in the clacking of keys as he continued to enter data into his computer. A natural break gave him a moment to scoop the ball up and lob it toward his partner's desk. He aimed it to land on the edge nearest to him rather than rudely in the midst of Yugi's work.

Satisfied that he got his point across, Seto went back to his work, and focused his attention on the screen in front of him. A ball landed on the top of his monitor, wavered for a moment, and plopped down onto his keyboard. 'ghihuyk' entered itself into the document he was working on. Sighing, he picked up the offending item and tossed it back to Yugi's desk again, this time aiming for, and landing it on the corner furthest from his partner.

While erasing the ridiculous word the ridiculous ball had entered in his document, Seto thought,_ Mutou's got short arms... he's not going to want to get up and ..._

PLOP!

_Wha...?_ He looked up and saw Yugi grinning at him from across the hallway. Only then did he notice that the two rubber-string balls he'd lobbed back were still on Yugi's desk, and that the one quivering in the midst of his paperwork again was a different color. Yugi hefted a fourth in his hand.

"Fine," Seto said, picking up the one on his desk and tossing it onto the table in his office. He'd put all the silly things in time-out if it gave him the peace he needed to finish typing this data into...

PLOP! That was the one in Yugi's hand. Another near-range toss and Seto's table had two of the silly things on it. He started to type again when....

PLOP! He retrieved this one from his keyboard (again) and grimly added it to the ones he already had. One more...

He'd touched one key when he reached out and snagged that fourth one from the air, turning his snag into an underhand toss that landed it on the table in his office. That was all of them, he should be able to get back to....

PLOP! PLOP! PLOP!

"How many of these damned, silly things do you have, Mutou?" he growled.

"A whole drawer full of 'em!" Yugi's reply was inordinately cheerful.

"Am I going to have to confiscate them all?" Seto demanded.

"Probably. But, I laid in an emergency stock in storage." Yugi grinned at him. "Sooner or later you'll..."

Yugi ducked as a Koosh ball came whizzing in right at his head.

"Hey!" Yugi protested, but he didn't mean it. Kaiba had been so intense all morning. The doors between their offices had been open, but his partner had been blocking him out. Kaiba hadn't said anything about his trip, or the redesigned offices. He'd just gone to his desk and started slaving away on his computer. Giving the man a chance to let off some steam in a harmless, and fun, way had seemed like a good thing to do. If nothing else, it let Yugi vent some of his frustration at his partner for blocking him out. The fact that Kaiba had thrown a Koosh ball at him though – showed that maybe his partner had to burn off some frustration, too. It was a weird way to communicate with each other. _Then again,_ Yugi thought, _everything that's happened between Kaiba and I since we first met has been a little weird. Why should _this _be any different? _

Try as he might, Yugi couldn't seem to duplicate Kaiba's impressive in-air Koosh ball snag. Kaiba threw them way too hard! And too accurately, Yugi admitted. He waited until Kaiba exhausted the supply of seven that had made it into his office.

"Had enough?" Kaiba asked. "You aren't going to throw them at me anymore?" Yugi caught the very slight note of disappointment in his partner's voice.

"What, you need more ammo?" Yugi shot back. "Our offices mirror each other in all the ways that count!" Yugi deliberately let Kaiba see as he opened the drawer in his desk that held his Koosh arsenal. Though Kaiba never moved – that Yugi could see – the whisper of his partner's drawer being opened was enough to alert him to the need to duck as a Koosh barrage came his way. Laughing, he dove under his desk where he had placed his Koosh shooter earlier.

The DDI Partnership Koosh War was started that day.

The first skirmish ended in a draw.

–end–


End file.
